Archived Posts

Sat, 01 Jan 2005

Parker declares bloggers are America's enemies.

In today's opinion piece, Parker is frothing about the "new enemies" who've captured her interest to a greater degree than the vile perpetrators of 9/11.

Lord of the blogs - Kathleen Parker - Orlando Sentinel - 12/28/05

Of all the stories leading America's annual greatest hits list, the one that subsumes the rest is the continuing evolution of information in the Age of Blogging.

Not since the birth of the printing press have our lives been so dramatically affected by the way we create and consume information -- both to our enormous benefit and, perhaps, to our growing peril.

What is wonderful and miraculous about the Internet needs little elaboration. We all marvel at the ease with which we can access information -- whether reading government documents previously available only to a few, or tracking down old friends and new enemies.

It is this latter -- our new enemies -- that interests me most. I don't mean al-Qaida or Osama bin Laden, but the less visible, insidious enemies of decency, humanity and civility -- the angry offspring of narcissism's quickie marriage to instant gratification.

[...]

[The column is also available at: Townhall.com - Lord of the blogs by Kathleen Parker]

Parker ends the article with a call to ignore blogs, "for civilization's sake", no less.

The end of civilization will be brought about by paying attention to evil bloggers. [Okay... Thanks for the update, Chicken Little.]

Parker had already admitted to her overwhelming interest in blogs, but concludes by telling everybody to ignore them. Her mother-hen argument is to do as she says, not as she does. Parker is interested in bloggers like a bird is fascinated by a snake.

Parker's been "tracking down [...] new enemies." She wants to protect her readers from those dangerous folk, whose opinions are beneath consideration, (yet so insidious).

Why is Parker threatened by blogs? Could it be that newspaper circulation is dropping precipitously, while the readership of blogs has skyrocketed?

Blogs are rewriting the rules for media delivery. New media is a threat to Parker's career as an ink-stained wretch.

Update: 11:30 a.m. Some early reactions from the blogosphere:

Corporate-communications blogger Jen, (of Irish Wake), asks: Should blogs be ignored?

Mr Minority offers an apt quote for the occasion:

"You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence" - Charles Austin Beard

Orthodixie's Father Joseph simply excerpts some key passages, but the post's title says it all: Blogger: I Know You Are, But What Am I?

From La Shawn Barber’s Corner - Lord of the Blogs: "The subtext is much more interesting than the text, and it’s got me wondering what happened to her [...]"

The Blogging Journalist emphasizes the positive with this take: Blogging- Perhaps the Greatest-hit of 2005

Update: 11:00 p.m. The inevitable blogger pile-on has begun.

Cave of the Curmudgeon - Criticism of Blogs & Bloggers repeats La Shawn Barber's apologia.

Politechnical - Lord of the Blogs Indeed asks: "Obsess much, Ms. Parker?"

Outside The Beltway - Lord of the Blogs states: "The juxtaposition of these arguments in such a small space is bizarre."

WireCan - Shorter Townhall.com sums up Parker's column in a single sentence: "Bloggers are mean. And unprofessional."

Stolen Thunder - Hypocrisy Does Not Befit You, Madam rebuts Parker's take on bloggers and asserts: "We are the future of journalism, not to replace the people who gather and report the news, but to drive them back to the ideals which used to matter; honesty, integrity, balance."

Mark in Mexico responds to Kathleen Parker: "I think there's something slightly creepy about any big-time journalist who is so frightened by widdle ol' me, frankly."

Jazz pipes up with Middle Earth Journal - Lord of the blogs - Parker comes unhinged.: "Considering that Parker writes for the neocon koolaid overdosed ClownTownhall.com, it is beyond belief that she would step up to the podium and start casting aspersions towards others for a lack of maturity and professionalism."

Decision ‘08 - Looking Fore and Aft agrees with many of Parker's points, but qualifies: "[...] Parker clearly overstated things considerably, thereby (oh, irony!) falling prey to the same shortcomings she would place on the blogosphere..."

robot guy - On the mainstream media's enemies list looks to Parker's motivation: "Maybe she is afraid that newspapers will join buggy-whip makers: an industry demolished by the advance of technology and an unwillingness (or an inability) to adapt."

SoCalPundit - The MSM Pushes Back concedes on a few points, but attributes Parker's attack to envy: "I have grown weary of the popularity game that can and is often played in the Blogosphere with trackback parties and the like. But the rest of her column is simply player-hating envy."

With Thoughts of a Regular Guy - Attracting Flies, Paul remarks: "The arrogance here is staggering. Ordinary people expressing their opinions, and allowing those opinions to be judged, unfiltered, on their own merits, is like giving children a megaphone. Only those elites who are annointed [sic] by virtue of their holy status as Doctor, Lawyer, Reporter, or Editor are worthy to express their opinions in a public forum." [In an update to the post, Paul recounts his correspondence to Parker and her arrogant, dismissive replies.]

PoliBlog - Oh, Those Awful Bloggers: "I will say that as a social scientist I also find the kind of gross generalities that she engages in are most annoying. To conflate the entire Blogosphere into millions of roughly co-equal parts is simply silly, as anyone who know anything about blogging knows."

World O'Crap - Shorter Kathleen Parker

Danny Carlton -- alias Jack Lewis: "I would imagine that blogs would be sapping the market from syndicated columnists. Wonder why she didn't feel the need to mention that, in the spirit of 'full disclosure'?"

Yourish.com - Another blogging hit piece: "Translation: 'The peasants are revolting!' (using both definitions of the word)."

With Hoover's Hound Hall Meeting - The Big-Blog Theory we are treated to a sycophantic gush of admiration for Parker.

Random Jottings - foolishness...: "'Professors, lawyers, doctors, philosophers... ' Yeah, I get it. People with union cards. They have license to speak. Us in the rabble don't."

Your Voice of Reason - Lord of the blogs by Kathleen Parker: "The bottom line: people like Ms. Parker are slowly becoming less relevant."

Jiblog - Kathleen Parker skittish on blogs: "Apparently the wisdom Ms. Parker has gained from all of her years in the business gives her license to be condescending and to not site [sic] any facts or examples."

Because everyone else has one - Snark, sass and destruction - now with more snark: "My guess is that there will be a lot of bloggers opining on your column, Kathleen. There's a good chance this was precisely the idea behind you writing this, you attention-starved minx you."

short notes: will brady's ruminations - misanthropes looks into the credentials of the esteemed Ms. Parker.

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